This particular badge would have been worn by u-boat U-566 made famous by Hans Hornkohl who sunk the USS Plymouth (PG 57). This u-Boat also came under attack by several British Wellington bombers, which damaged the 'boot' but managed to return to base intact. It also shot down two American aircraft: an American PV-1 Ventura BuNo 29916 (VB-128 USN, pilot Lt F.C. Cross) and American PV-1 Ventura BuNo 29909 (VB-128 USN, pilot Lt Joseph M. George), a pretty rare occurence for a u-Boat. It was sunk by a Wellington bomber HF132 (RAF sqdn 179/A, pilot Sgt Donald Mervin Conrish, RCAF) off the Spanish coast. The entire crew survived and were all repatriated to Germany. The u-boat crew met the Wellington crew in 1970! An amazing escape for a u-boat and a pretty amazing history!